Either sell me on [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] as a classic and beautiful name, or help me come up with actual related variants! I have plenty of other R-names if I just initial match, but for names actually related to [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] I have:
[name_f]Rahel[/name_f] - Hebrew. http://www.forvo.com/word/%D7%A8%D7%97%D7%9C/ Probably will always be misspelled forever. :l Maybe could use as a middle name.
[name_f]Ruchel[/name_f] - Yiddish. Not really gonna use this one.
[name_f]Rahela[/name_f] - Hungarian. More distinct from [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] than [name_f]Rahel[/name_f]. A leader for me, I think…
[name_f]Raquel[/name_f] - Spanish. ra-KELL. [name_f]My[/name_f] other leader. Very well-known but not worn out, I think? I’m not sure what image it has. When you hear [name_f]Raquel[/name_f] you think…
[name_f]Raquela[/name_f] - Hebrew variant. Used by [name_f]Raquela[/name_f] Prywes, who I admire. Is it better or worse than [name_f]Rahela[/name_f]?
Leikela - Beautiful looking, but I don’t know much about it. Listed as a Hawaiian variation. I’m thinking lay-kell-ah but that may be wrong.
[name_f]Racheli[/name_f], Raheli - [name_m]Just[/name_m] heard this one today, it is what made me review if I “knew all” the variations. This is an “ee” ending, not an i as in [name_f]Lorelei[/name_f].
[name_f]Rachelle[/name_f] - [name_m]French[/name_m]. ra-[name_u]SHELL[/name_u]. I don’t see myself using this.
[name_u]Rae[/name_u] - Originally a nickname for [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]. Would be willing to use alone as a middle name, maybe a first?
I know there’s more spellings - [name_f]Rakel[/name_f], [name_f]Raquelle[/name_f] etc - but are there more variations of pronunciation/spin-off names I don’t know about? Starting with other letters maybe? Besides [name_f]Chelli[/name_f]/[name_u]Shelly[/name_u]…?
And what’s your image of [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you have an image of any of the others?
I think [name_f]Raquel[/name_f]/[name_f]Raquela[/name_f] is very pretty but some people find it harsh?
All thoughts appreciated.
I love just plain [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], honestly. I think we’ve discussed this already, and I’ve given my favorite [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] alternatives, the Polish [name_f]Rachela[/name_f] (which I assume is rah-[name_u]SHELL[/name_u]-ah? But I could be completely wrong) and the possibly made-up/modernly-invented (although I have no proof) Racheline (which I say as [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]-een, but I think it’s gorgeous, anyhow).
I really like the Hebrew [name_f]Rahel[/name_f], and [name_f]Rahela[/name_f] really intrigues me. I don’t care for [name_f]Raquel[/name_f] at all–it just seems too exotic for me, but I think part of my impressions are colored by the one [name_f]Raquel[/name_f] who I do know, who never left anywhere near the positive impression that I have with [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] (despite the fact that this [name_f]Raquel[/name_f] is better and above all the Rachels I’ve met, by leagues). I don’t know, I just imagine a [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] to be very kind and very noble of heart, like the royalty and dignity and class of a true princess in the body of an everyday girl, with the kindest, sweetest heart. I’ve recently taken her off my list, but I still love her to death. What is it about [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] that you’re not fond of?
Behind the name says that Raelene and [name_f]Raelyn[/name_f] are related. Personally I like [name_f]Rachael[/name_f].
[name_f]Rachel[/name_f] is nice and classic. I think it would make a fantastic middle for something more exotic ([name_f]Lyra[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] or [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]). It has many nickname possibilities — [name_u]Ray[/name_u], [name_f]Raya[/name_f], Raylie, [name_m]Rocky[/name_m] (though this is more common for [name_f]Raquel[/name_f]).
[name_f]Rahela[/name_f] is pretty cool. It reminds me of a character in the A Song of Ice and [name_m]Fire[/name_m] (aka Game of Thrones). I also like the Italian [name_f]Rachele[/name_f] (rah-keh-leh), though it would be tricky in an English-speaking country.
Raphaëlle, Raffaella and its variants could be an alternative. Rosabel? [name_u]Rain[/name_u]? [name_f]Rochelle[/name_f]? [name_u]Chelsea[/name_u]?
Or a name with a similar (ovine) meaning: [name_f]Ovidia[/name_f], [name_f]Agnella[/name_f], [name_f]Una[/name_f]?
Well, I don’t like “Rach”/ “Raych” and I don’t like that here in [name_m]Oz[/name_m] where I am now it’s often spelled [name_f]Rachael[/name_f] or [name_f]Racheal[/name_f].
But really the crux of the issue is that to American Jewish families like mine, it pretty much is what [name_f]Maria[/name_f]/[name_f]Mary[/name_f] is to Catholic ones in terms of level of use. And not just family but like people I know. I’ve known probably actually fifty different girls/women by that name. And as would be the case, when it’s that many of them, a couple of them really tick me off and I know if I named a baby [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] they’d have something to say.
I’d LIKE to like it, if you know what I mean?
Yeah, once I branch out to other R’s there’s lots of options. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister intends to use [name_f]Raphaela[/name_f] but it’s a lovely name. Rosabel and [name_f]Rosalba[/name_f] both appeal, as does [name_u]Rain[/name_u].
I was just reviewing [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]-forms themselves because I’d just learned [name_f]Racheli[/name_f]. As ashthedreamer pointed out (and fair enough!) I’ve been over the [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] query a couple times and I apologize if I’m annoying the snot out of everyone.
I just never see lists for it like ‘all the forms of [name_f]Katherine[/name_f]’ or whatever.
I like [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]. I think of the Biblical character first, of Friends(is it avoidable?) and about [name_m]Dante[/name_m] [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m] Rossetti’s painting. I have never met a baby with the [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] or any of the variations and I would really like to.
Out of names listed I like [name_f]Raquel[/name_f], [name_f]Racheli[/name_f] and [name_u]Rae[/name_u]. [name_u]Rae[/name_u] would be especially lovely as a first name.
I think I have heard or [name_f]Rahil[/name_f] (ruh-heel, with soft l) of Russian origin but living in [name_m]Israel[/name_m].
There totally should be an “international variations of [name_f]Rachel[/name_f]” list! We should get [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] on that. haha.
And I didn’t bring up my response to sound annoyed about commenting again–I love [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], I don’t mind, ha! Besides, I have enough names that I keep coming back to and I never seen to be able to sort out, so I don’t blame you on the [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] front–I just brought it up because I knew I’d suggested [name_f]Rachela[/name_f] and Racheline before, and they weren’t on your list, so I figured you didn’t like them/couldn’t use them for whatever reason, and I didn’t really have any other suggestions to provide.
Wow, that is a lot of Rachels! I know… two. And I knew someone on another forum who named her daughter [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. I know some people see it as being dated, but it’s in the top 60 here for last year, and I was really wondering why. Maybe it’s all the Jews? 
I didn’t know P@ had a huge Jewish population, though…